Friday, December 02, 2011

Pyongyang Pikas Postgame: November Recap

It's been a month of ups and downs for the Pikas, who won two out of their last four to go to 6-6 with one game left in the regular season.

Week 9 saw some strong efforts by a few Pikas, including quarterback Aaron Rodgers (30 points) and newly-healthy tight end Antonio Gates (15) to bring the score against Tom's 2MuchJohnson4U to 96-83 at the end of Sunday.  Both teams had one player left to play: Pikas star running back Matt Forte needed to get no worse than 12 points fewer than 2MuchJohnson4U star running back LeSean McCoy to give the Pikas their first win over Tom's team.  McCoy made it interesting, scoring an impressive 17 during the Monday night game, and even though Forte scored only 10, it was enough.

Final score: Pikas 106, 2MuchJohnson4U 100

Another close game followed in Week 10, but sadly it didn't go the Pikas' way.  Many of the Pikas simply didn't show up in Week 10, with the wide receiver duo of Wes Welker and Mike Wallace only scoring a total of 12 points, and the usually stalwart Ravens defense scoring a miserable 1.  The Pikas were down 87-64 heading into Monday night, where the Pikas played Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and Zach's Beat Tom team played Greg Jennings at wide receiver.  Rodgers had a typically stellar night, racking up 4 touchdowns and a total of 28 points; sadly for the Pikas, one of those touchdowns was to Greg Jennings, and that made the difference in the game.

Final score: Beat Tom 96, Pikas 92

The Pikas were completely demolished in Week 11, scoring by far their lowest point total of the season.  New recruit Brandon Marshall was supposed to bolster the receiving corps but scored no points at all.  Worse for the Pikas, running back Fred Jackson, a key early-season acquisition, was injured during the game and his season finished.  Once that was combined with three Narwhals players scoring more than 20 points each, the Pikas suffered a good old-fashioned blowout.

Final score: North Dakota Narwhals 128, Pikas 76

Fortunately, the Pikas righted the ship in Week 12 starting with an auspicious Thanksgiving Day.  Quarterback Aaron Rodgers had his toughest matchup of the season but still score 20 points.  The Ravens defense put on a clinic against the 49ers, piling up nine sacks and scoring 18; the only points the 49ers scored came off the foot of new Pikas kicker David Akers, who netted 9.  Things fell into place even more nicely on Sunday, with Wes Welker bouncing back from two miserable weeks to get 22 points and Roddy White adding 18 of his own.   2MuchJohnson4U's last hope on Monday night was Jimmy Graham, the New Orleans tight end who is arguably the best in the league.  Graham scored 20, as much as an owner could ever expect a tight end to score, but it wasn't quite enough.

Final score: Pikas 112, 2MuchJohnson4U 98.  Pikas record: 6-6 (3-1 in division)

Only one final matchup with divisional rival Beat Tom remains before the playoffs!


Currently listening: "The Angels Hung Around," Rilo Kiley